(NewsNation) — As the younger generation opts for less traditional jobs and more entrepreneurial side gigs in a digital age, the demand for a college degree has fallen.
Indeed, a popular job site and hiring platform, conducted a survey of nearly 800 professionals in the United States with an associate’s degree or higher and found that more than half view their diploma as a waste of money.
They are skeptical about the return on investment, according to the study, revealing a generational divide. About 51% of Gen Z (born 1997-2012) consider their degrees a waste of money, compared to just 20% of Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) and 41% of Millennials (born 1981-1996).
“For decades, getting a degree meant substantially higher wages,” said Jocelyne Gafner in the study. “From 1980 through about 2010, the gap between what college graduates earned and what those with only high school diplomas earned grew significantly. But recently, this advantage has hit a wall.”
Researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco point to the “race between education and technology” to explain the dynamic of wage gaps between those with college degrees and those without.
Now, the wage gap has gotten smaller. Plenty of people are millionaires from internet and tech jobs that didn’t require higher education, whereas plenty of people who attended college are still in debt.
“The combination of stagnating wage benefits, skyrocketing costs, degree saturation and debt may explain why younger generations increasingly question whether college is worth it,” Gafner said. “The traditional promise of higher education simply doesn’t align with the reality many younger professionals experience.
